Colleagues,

Based on the "Grenzvermessung Deutschland-Luxemburg..." it seems
possible to throw forward the following postulates:

The delu condominuim seems to have it's origin in the Main Document of
the Treaty of Vienna following the Congress of Vienna 1815, which states
that some (particularly wet) bordes between Pussia and the Netherlands shall
be equally owned by the two states. This goes for the current wet border
(Mosel-Sauer-Our), and for at least one unnamed road, and maybe for
the Ribbach as well.

The Main Document was a broad treaty, stating that the specifics should
be sorted out by several future comissions-to-be-formed.

The Prussian-Netherlands Border Commission draws on the Treaty of
Vienna, and states in the Treaty of Aachen 1816 at least the following:

- Mosel, Sauer and Our are jointly and equally owned by Prussia and
the Netherlands.

- Islands within these waters belong to either of the states, and are thus
not condominial.

- The community of Vianden shall not be divided, hence the dry border
east of the community.

Then there is the Protocol of Emmerich of 1816 (?, Peter?). This is a
riddle,
because it does not mention the condominium situation at all. The
protocol mainly concerns the separation of the islands of Mosel-Sauer-Our,
and specifically states that the border between the states follows the
main channel of the waters.

How to interpret this contradiction?

Some help in interpreting this comes from the fact that when the Reich
approached Luxemburg in the late thirties on a dissolvement of the
condominium,
Luxemburg answered that it was not sure that this was a bilateral question,
since possibly all the parties of the Treaty of Vienna would have to be
consulted. This suggest, I think, that at least the Treaty of Vienna, and
possibly the Treaty of Aachen supersedes the Protocol of Emmerich,
at least in the minds of the Luxemburgers. Then the second World War
intervened before an agreement could be reached.

In 1980 to 1984 the border was measured anew, and "refreshed". The
following seems to be true:

- There are two contigious parts of the condominium; north of Vianden and
south of Vianden.

- The "ends" of the condominia (the "trilines") are straight lines.

- The condominium is limited by the line where land and water meet at
normal water height (Mittelwasserstand).

- There are dry parts of the condominium; several dams (large and tiny),
locks, power plants, bridges, bridge fundaments and other installations.

- The condominium extends below and above ground, in the same way
as ordinary borders do.

- The islands are now part of the condominium. This is based on
praticality. Several of the islands mentioned in the Protocol of Emmerich
exist no more, and others have formed.

- The borders are amply marked. There are primary (52 pairs), secondary
and tertiary border stones. At some bridges there are brass plates, at
others tin plates as shown in Wolfgang's excellent document. Where the
border traverses dry ground, such as at dams and locks and some bridges,
there are small cast iron circular plates that Peter has shown us in
previous
messages. There is also a handful of metal bolts at selected places.

Mats